Hayden Potter:The First War
by Kazhern
Summary: AU.War rages in between the dark force led by Voldemort against the Aurors and the Order.James and Lily strive to protect their son and fight the darkness.Powerful dark side .Immerse yourself in the first war
1. Balloons in the air

Balloons in the air

"JAMES ALEXANDER POTTER", the voice of Lily potter echoed through the gardens." WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING WITH MY SON!"

The father and son duo could only stare as a furious Lily came stomping through the door.

"He's my son too!" James replied in an indignant voice, which was tinted with a little fear "And I am just teaching him how to fly".

Neither had bothered to tell her what they were planning on doing and it seemed as though they were going to pay heavily for it. James was suddenly reminded of the time in his fourth year at Hogwarts when he had charmed the dark red hair of Lily to a bright pink. The broken nose that he had sported for two days after that was reminder enough of Lily's fury.

Lily approached them and stood in front of them, hands on her hips. Although all her anger had melted away on seeing those two with guilty expressions on their faces, she couldn't resist but torture them for a little while more.

"And why, pray tell me, did you think that teaching our five year old son- ", she ignored the tiny voice "Hey I am six!",and continued "-how to fly would be a good idea? "she spoke in a cool voice .

"Um…because …flying is…. good for magic?", James was surprised at his own stupidity.

"Oh, c'mon mum, we were just having a little fun "the soon to be six year old Hayden Potter spoke up, with large green eyes pleading with his mother. Soon Lily found herself confronted by two pairs of eyes giving her the kicked puppy look.

"Oh..All right, quit that expression both of you. Honestly James, you are an adult!".Both the male Potters shared a look of victory." But no more flying today, we have to get ready for the party, and where are those good for nothing friends of yours, James? I seem to recall them promising to help with the decorations!"

"They will be coming any time now." James replied and Lily went back to her kitchen muttering about Potter males and their irresistible charms.

"So, Dad when am I getting a broom?"

* * *

James and Hayden were having a war with confetti and balloons, with Hayden sticking confetti on James wild hair and James tickling him senseless, when the fireplace erupted in a shower of green flame and out stepped two men wearing elegant robes. One, a strikingly handsome man, with dark hair and aristocratic features, with deep blue robes and the other a brown haired man with amber eyes, looking tired yet cheerful in dark brown robes.

"Padfoot, Moony!"Hayden jumped up from his place and rushed to them trying to grab both of them in a giant hug and failing measurably.

"Happy birthday, pronglet!"Sirius said and picked him up in his arms,"and how is my favorite godson today!"

Hayden rolled his eyes at his godfather while Remus burst out laughing noticing this action. Sirius put him down as he ran off to Remus who gave him a hug and wished him..

Giving James a one armed hug, Sirius unceremoniously dropped himself on the sofa.

"So what have we got ourselves planned for today? Ice creams, cakes, and beautiful witches cooing over pronglet over here! ", at this he directly looked at Hayden, "I, your godfather, hereby order you to stay with me whenever a fair maiden enters the party" he proclaimed with a exaggerated wink in what he thought was a commanding voice but what came out as a loud squeak.

"The only thing you shall be doing is out in the garden setting the tables", Lily countered coming out of the kitchen.

"Hey Lily", Remus said as he watched her wearing her apron stained with chocolate smudges.

"Hi Remus ,and you mister if I see you flirting with any of my friends, there will be hell to pay ",Lily said with an evil glint in here eye .

"Com now Lily, you cannot deny me my birthright ! Can she Prongs?", Sirius looked at his friend for support.

"Eh..I am with Lily on this one, Padfoot", James replied hesitatingly as Lily looked at Sirius with a victorious look.

"Traitor" Sirius hissed with a pout.

"C'mon you guys, we've got work to do", Lily proclaimed and Hayden watched in amazement as his mother directed the three men to do her biding. The fact that two of them were elite aurors and one of them was a werewolf did nothing to lessen his wonder.

The thought brought up another memory when he had discovered the truth about his uncle Moony.

FLASHBACK

_Hayden was in bed and his mother arranging the books in his room, when the wards alerted her that someone had rushed in the hall through the flu. Her eyes widened and she immediately ran towards the hall. Hayden astonished at this ,slowly woke up. It was early in the morning and the sun was just showing its visage. Wondering as to what might have caused his mother to act like that, he slowly followed his mother. On reaching the door, he could hear muffled moans of pain, and he immediately recognized the voice .It was his uncle moony .Another voice broke out, "easy there Moony, you are going to be alright,Lily's here", another familiar voice ,that of his godfather spoke. His mother spoke, "What happened Sirius?" ._

"_The wolf was particularly vicious today. Without Prongs, I could only control him to an extent. He somehow knocked me out and inflicted these wounds on himself. I don't know why he hurt himself though" Sirius replied _

_Hayden was confused from these words, but he came to the conclusion that his uncle Moony had been hurt badly by some wolf. The man had been quite depressed for the past few days ever since the murder of his parents-John and Mary Lupin and only the sight of Hayden would pull him out of his sadness. He immediately made to open the door and comfort him and help his mother when the next words from her froze him in his steps _

"_Maybe the wolf inside him couldn't control his rage at his parents' murder. Werewolves have a strong subconscious, which comes out during their transformations. It is possible that Remus blames himself for their death and the wolf inside him thinks so too"._

_Hayden was shocked beyond words. He couldn't find himself to open the door and immediately ran back to his room and sat down thinking what had happened as his mind ran through the memories of his uncle moony, how he would always bring him the raspberry candies that were his favorite, how he would laugh with Hayden as they watched Padfoot and his dad being berated by his mother, how he always listened with patience as Hayden complained about his parents giving out unfair punishments when all he did was 'borrow' his dad's wand to play with it. he thought of all the times when he would just snuggle up to him and ask him questions on magic and the world an how he would explain it to him in detail, though he didn't understand half of it, he always liked the way he spoke and he often teased him along with his dad and Padfoot that he was too much like a teacher. Did all that change because he was a werewolf ? Was he not the same Moony who used to give him piggyback rides and taught him how to play chess, the one to rescue him when Sirius tickled him? But the teacher in his primary school had mentioned werewolves to be dark ,vicious creatures. His mother had once told him that good or bad does not come from the light or darkness nor from who you are but from your choices and intentions. But Moony…._

_His musings were disrupted when his mother came in ,wearing a tired look yet a smile on seeing him. "Uncle Moony has had a bit of an accident. he is in his guest room now. Would you like to go see him?"_

_Nodding his head subconsciously, Hayden started towards the room. As he opened the door, he found Remus on the bed, looking extremely weary. He had a huge gash across his chest and several cuts across his torso. Yet when he looked at his face ,he saw his smile ,the smile that always used to break out on his face whenever he saw Hayden, and at that moment Hayden made up his mind. He went and sat silently next to the werewolf on his bed_

"_I know you are a werewolf", he finally spoke up._

_Remus' face changed into one of horror ,then into despair, embarrassment and finally resignation and sadness showed clearly on his face. As he silently dropped his head in shame and a couple of tears made their way to his eyes, Hayden spoke up once again,_

"_But you will always be Moony for me. Even if you change into a furry thing every month, you shall still remain my favorite uncle. You will never be a monster "_

_._

_He saw astonishment in Moony's eyes, as his sorrow vanished and he grabbed Hayden in a bear hug, tears streaming down his face ._

"_Does this mean I get more Raspberry drops", Hayden cheekily replied ,his face buried in Remus's robes. Roars of laughter echoed through he house._

END FLASHBACK

His parents and Sirius had been extremely proud of him after that. He had also learnt never to take anything on face value or as it was presented by the people. Who said he had just inherited his eyes from his mother?

All the marauders along with Lily and Hayden were in the kitchen.

Lily was preparing the huge chocolate for the party as Sirius and James stared at it with greed in their eyes. As soon as Lily turned Sirius called up that famed Griffyndor courage and thrust his hands towards the cake, his mind already imagining the heavenly taste of chocolate as it would melt on his tongue.

Thwack!

Sirius hands were swatted away by what looked like a particularly angry saucepan. Apparently Lily's talent in charms had shown itself again." You didn't think I would leave the cake unprotected with you two ogling at it!"

Sirius pouted and sat down near James complaining about his job.

"Seriously Prongs, you take a holiday and Rufus drops all the work on me ! No matter what you say, I still believe that he's taking his revenge on me "

"Maybe you should have thought that before spiking his coffee with magma hair potion " Remus countered. Lily turned around faster than a snake at this statement and stared at Sirius with fury.

"Or maybe Moony over here should know when to keep his mouth shut..."Sirius said but was silenced by the look on Lily's face.

"You what ? I knew you were reckless but I didn't know you were stupid enough to spike your boss' coffee!", she said incredulously .

"Oh .it was all for fun."

"Your idea of fun is everyone else's idea of torture". Lily replied with a raised eyebrow

. Remus nodded sagely at that while James was whispering to Hayden about something.

"Really dad! Thank you thank you", Hayden suddenly spoke up and bounced with excitement and ran upstairs. Lily narrowed her eyes at James.

"What!"

"That devilish smile on your face and Hayden's excitement strongly suggests that both of you are up to something. And that means trouble. So spill it," Lily commanded.

"And what if I don't?", James challenged with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Then my dear husband, you will be cleaning up after the party and sleeping on the couch for the next week". She said swiftly

James knowing that she could fully carry out her threat accepted defeat ."I was just going to let him use my invisibility cloak for a while. You don't have to get all fiery on me" he replied pitifully.

Lily simply smirked ."See to it that there is no trouble". Suddenly a house elf popped and said "Mistress Lily, the zabini family has arrived".

"Thank you Wocky, see to it that the cake remains untouched" she said and left.

"Don't worry mistress, I wont allow Master Hayden's cake to be harmed", Wocky replied with a mischievous smile towards Sirius and James.

"She has you whipped mate!" Sirius spoke up glancing at lily's retreating form.

"Wouldn't have it any other way mate, wouldn't have it any other way" James spoke with a small smile.

* * *

The Zabinis had been family friends with the Potters ever since their days in Hogwarts. Cassidy Zabini nee Hitchens was the best friend of Lily and they along with Jane Meranus were inseparable during their days at Hogwarts. Although Cassidy and Jane were Ravenclaws and a year older than Lily, yet it never seemed to affect her friendship. After they had once found Lily crying by the lake clutching a letter from Her elder sister petunia in her first year, they had taken her under their wing and the friendship blossomed. Cassidy had married Leonard Zabini, and even after marriage both the families had remained close friends.

"Cassidy!", she exclaimed and hugged her friend ."Hey Leonard, where are the kids?"

A tall broad shouldered man gave lily a quick kiss on the cheek and replied," They rushed off to find Hayden."

"Hiya, Leo, Cassidy, thanks for coming to help, Lily's going mad about the preparations. You would think it was Hayden's wedding or something", James said coming from a distance .Lily glared at him while the Zabinis laughed.

"I'll have you know Mr. Potter that Hayden's wedding will be much larger than this." Lily replied with a smirk. James paled at this.

"You mean you already have it planned! "James cried out in mock horror and looked at Leonard." See what I mean , I am not allowed to teach my boy quidditch but she has the right to plan his wedding. "

"I sympathize with you mate. God knows its difficult to handle them.", Leonard replied and both of them dissolved in a fit of laughter.

"On the couch tonight you", two female voices spoke simultaneously directed at their respective husbands. Both of them threw up their hands in surrender and quickly went to pacify their wives.

"You wouldn't want me on the couch tonight would you? "James whispered in a husky voice .

"EWWWWWWW" echoed three voices just as James had managed to capture Lily's lips in a kiss. James immediately separated from his wife and looked around to see Leonard doing the same.

With a flick ,a silvery cloak flew from nowhere and landed on James' hands exposing three kids. A boy with dark brown hair, amber eyes and sturdy built, and a girl resembling Cassidy in her beauty but with black hair and brown eyes and another boy with black messy hair and emerald green eyes each sporting a look of disgust.

"I see that you have shown Hayden the utility of the invisibility cloak", Cassidy spoke up in amusement.

James merely shook his head "Ah Hayden, when I told that This could be used for spying I didn't mean that you should spy on me" .

"And I will never be doing that again, not after this!" Hayden replied his face still scrunched in disgust.

"Hello Uncle James ,aunt Lily", the other two kids replied.

"Hey Selene, Ryan ,hope Hayden here hasn't been corrupting you "James replied.

"Hey there ,everyone, My my Cassidy, you seem to grow more beautiful every time I see you", Sirius spoke coming from the manor along with Remus.

Everyone present rolled their eyes at Sirius' antics .Remus greeted everyone and Leonard smacked Sirius playfully on his back.

"Quit flirting with my wife Sirius, she's mine I tell ya,all mine". Leonard replied in mock outrage .

"Ya ya,keep telling yourself that!"

* * *

Soon enough, all of them were in the massive garden of the Halls of Silver otherwise known as Potter mansion in a white gazebo. Hayden looked around to see various people around him .His parents on both sides and his uncles smiling at him. Ryan and Selene stood with him. The Tonks family stood near Sirius with their daughter Nymphadora or Nimmy as he used to call her to prevent her wrath. Professor Flitwick ,the Hogwarts charms professor ,stood near Lily beaming at him. He was glad to see all his friends present there. There had been some security issue over the party and he had thought that he couldn't invite all his friends ,but his parents had taken care of that. His parent's friends that he had come to know over the years were there too .

"C'mon Hayden its time to cut the cake", Lily spoke up in a soft voice. Immediately ,a smiling Wocky came carrying a huge chocolate cake shaped like a giant snitch.

"And of course ,you are not encouraging him to be a seeker!" Sirius spoke up seeing the cake and the crowd laughed.

As various tunes of the happy birthday song echoed throughout the garden, Sirius singing it in the tune of his favorite muggle song "Hotel California", Hayden blew out the candles only wishing for this joy, those smiles to last forever.

The party was on in full swing. All the kids had gathered around Nimmy, who was the eldest of the lot and was making all sorts of faces using her metamorphmagi ability. As Professor Flitwick passed them, She immediately turned to face him ,her face an exact replica of his, and spoke "Mr. Flitwick,10 points from Ravenclaw ",and all the kids along with Flitwick laughed at this.

Recovering from laughter, he made his way to where James ,Sirius and Leonard were sitting ,the expressions on their face somber.

"Hello professor ", James greeted him

"Quit with it already, James. you are no longer my student. You call the headmaster by his name and still call me professor. Makes me feel older than Albus" .The others chuckled at this.

"Too bad he couldn't make it. He always has a thing for parties. And Lily made lemon tarts especially for him."

"The usual order business is keeping him. Along with the ICW conferences, he is not left with much time these days. And he also just returned from the annual Transfiguration council meet of the ICW, he was representing both himself and Minerva.."

The mention of the transfiguration professor brought about solemn and grave expression on all of their faces.

After a moment of silence, Leonard spoke "I still cannot believe that The Joseph Mcgonnagal is no more ."

"Yeah, he was one of the finest fighters that I've ever seen . Our first Knight. ",Sirius spoke up.

"For the first time in my life have I felt so vulnerable. If Voldemort was able to defeat a man who is no less than a legend…",Leonard said.

"It was not just him, the dark prince was their too. Both of them cornered him and killed him.", James replied with unhidden anguish.

"Poor Minerva, she was truly shaken with this. But as the strong woman she is, she has sworn to avenge her husband's death.",Flitwick said.

James glanced at his family, in a distance he could see Lily wiping out an invisible smudge on Hayden's face and Hayden trying to brush her off.

"I know I would do anything to save my family."

* * *

"So how was it?" asked an eager Ryan.

"Awesome ,Dad had held me tightly, but let me tell you the feeling is unparalleled .I could feel the wind flowing through my hair. I just wanted to grab the broom and dance around in the air.", Hayden replied with a large smile.

"How could you feel it exciting? A thousand feet above the air, with nothing but a twig to prevent you from crashing !",Selene questioned with a shudder.

"Just because you are scared of heights doesn't mean it is not fun", Hayden answered with a taunting smile.

"Shut up you prat",she glared at Hayden but still with a smile.

"Remember the time when we were young, and we were on the second floor balcony of the manor. The snitch we were playing with went off to another room. we went to recover it leaving her all alone on the balcony .She just looked down from there and screamed like hell!"Hayden spoke and broke out in fits of laughter with Ryan.

"It wasn't funny you guys, I was small", she protested and then rounded on Ryan who had tears in his eyes from laughing." And why are you laughing Mr. I don't like rats?"

Hayden immediately spoke up" I still remember when uncle worm tail transformed for the first time infront of me and he shrieked like a girl and ran through the house waving his arms", Hayden complemented the speech with a poor display of hand waving.

"You did not just say that", Ryan spluttered seeing Selene laughing hard at him.

"What are you gonna do about it ?"Hayden asked with a bold face.

Ryan simply flexed his arms getting up and heading towards Hayden with a malicious glint in his eye.

Hayden immediately got up and ran with Ryan following him at an equal pace.

* * *

Lily and Cassidy were talking about their Hogwarts days when Hayden sprinted infront of them with Ryan at his heels, both screaming in laughter.

"He seems so much like her", Lily said in a sad tone looking at Ryan.

"Yes, every morning I wake up and see him at the breakfast table and I cant help but see Jane in him. The way she used to talk ,her way of arranging things ,all her actions are reflected in him. When he looks up at me with those amber eyes, I can almost feel Jane behind them." Silent tears sprung up in her eyes as memories of her best friend flooded Cassidy.

"Remember during her graduation, she had gone up to professor Dumbledore and had demanded that when her child stepped into hogwarts,she would like it to be more cheerful than the haunted castle look that it provided" Lily said with a watery smile.

"I believe her exact words were-'Bloody hell Dumbledore,you better clean up this castle. I wont have my child coming to a haunted place to study!' and that was after Peeves spilled pumpkin juice in her hair" Cassidy added ,tears still in her eyes.

Glancing at Ryan, she said "She would have been proud of Ryan, you know."

"Of course she would have, and she would have been proud of you too, the way you have brought him up like your own "Lily said

"Now come, I wont have tears in my house especially on my son's birthday. Its getting late. Lets call the others for dinner before James and Sirius manage to pilfer my desserts."

* * *

After dinner, everyone returned to their respective places. Even Remus had to leave, claiming that he was tired. The full moon from the last night still had its effects on him. The Potter family along with Sirius were returning to the house when the gates opened once again to allow Albus Dumbledore into the grounds of the manor.

"Albus, how are you", Lily said on seeing him and rushed to greet him.

"I am fine Lily. Happy birthday Hayden ..Sorry I couldn't make it to your party. But I do believe you had a fabulous time today", Dumbledore spoke handing Hayden a brightly wrapped present.

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore",Hayden replied.

"Come inside Albus .I have managed to save some lemon tarts for you" Lily spoke and ushered them in.

Once inside ,they retired to the family drawing room, with coffee and lemon tarts. James on recognizing Dumbledore's grave look said," Hayden why don't you go up to your room and open your presents while we talk with Professor Dumbledore here. Zwinkly" .A house elf slightly bigger than the previous one appeared." Take Hayden's presents to his room."

Hayden, used to this , left silently without protest. After he left, James spoke up," What is it Albus?".

"It is as I feared James, Voldemort has taken steps to prevent his death. What measures he has taken, I know not. But I am certain that at present ,he is not mortal as any of us. "

"But how can that be Albus? Immortality is something that not even the greatest sorcerers have been able to achieve.", Lily asked in a concerned voice.

"I do not know, Lily. But Tom has a knowledge of dark arts that is unparalled. That is what I was most afraid of. His remarkable intelligence combined with his power ."

"What of the dark prince?", James suddenly spoke up.

"From my knowledge, I do not think that the dark prince has taken any such steps. However he has been trained in the dark arts by Voldemort himself and him being an heir to Slytherin means that his raw magical energy is likely to be of great magnitude."

"Oh he's powerful, that I know", James spoke in a distant manner recollecting the spells performed by the dark prince.

"How did the meet of the general assembly of the ICW go? "

"The ICW has refused help. According to the international laws of the Confederation, it shall not provide any military aid for an insurgence. Voldemort has targeted only the provinces under Magical Britain. Due to this the confederation has ruled out any help. They recognize our need for assistance however the laws prevent them from doing so. "

"WHAT? They do realize that Voldemort wont stop at Britain .He shall spread out his minions and with his power he shall soon have the entire magical community of Europe under his control.", Sirius voiced his outrage.

"The high masters of the supreme council understand that. But the law binds them. Similar requests for aid were requested during the rise of a dark wizard in Australia and were turned down on similar grounds few years after the fall of Grindelwald. For many members of the council ,it is just a public uprising to overthrow our government. As they claim,' The ICW was created to maintain peace among magical nations not to help the existing governments rule their people'.", the frustration in the tone of the aged wizard was evident.

"It means we are on our own now.", Sirius said in a slow voice.

"Voldemort is getting stronger. I have doubts that by the time the ICW realizes the need to assist us it might be too late. I have lived long enough to see various dark wizards rising and falling. But none have troubled me as greatly as Tom. His powers are growing with every passing day and so is the strength of his army. I believe our only hope lies in the prophecy".

At this both James an Lily cast a silent look at each other before bowing their heads.

"Listen to me, I have already spoken to the Longbottoms. They have agreed to go into hiding for the time being. Voldemort knows the first part of the prophecy. The only thing stopping him from attacking Hayden and Neville is that he doesn't know the exact date of their births. I may have managed to keep the birth records of every magical person born in the last ten years well hidden, but that will only delay him. You must hide for the time being.",Dumbledore spoke in a concerned tone.

"The Potter Mansion has enough wards to keep him out", James replied, "We don't have to hide anywhere."

"While the wards on your ancestral property are extremely powerful, even paralleling those at Hogwarts,but it will not keep you safe from the dark forces of Voldemort. I have already spoken to you about this. The only solution is the fidelius charm. But the Magic in the Potter mansion and its ancient wards along with its massive size make it impossible to cast the fidelius over it. You must move to someplace smaller and safer."

"We will think about it, Albus",Lily replied .

"Please inform me of your decision soon. If not for your sake ,then for the sake of Hayden. "With this he got up to leave, leaving behind his three finest comrades in the war in deep thought.

"I don't know what to do. Hiding would mean giving up on everything that we intended to achieve. Hayden already complains about the amount of time he has to spend in the manor. And I don't blame him. He should be able to roam around, play with his friends instead of having to spend his entire time in loneliness in the manor. ", James said his head buried in his hands.

Lily came and put his arms around her husband. "But the situation is far from normal James. Hayden will understand. He's a good kid. We will do what we can. Everything will be alright",Lily gently rubbed small circles on James' back.

"Yeah mate, and besides Hayden's not getting bored .You know I have already told him most of our stories during our marauder times.", Sirius replied with a smile.

Lily rolled her eyes," He has been asking me to teach him about magic. He seems extremely fascinated by it, almost like I was when I discovered I was a I perform magic, he begs me to tell me all about how I did it "

The conversation on his son cheered James to some extent."yeah,yesterday night I cast Lumos and he asked me how I did it. I simply told him I charmed my tip of wand to produce light. And do you know what he did. he concentrated for a while and his finger tip was glowing with light!"

"That is not accidental magic! He is performing wandless magic. Why didn't you tell this to me earlier?"

"Er..with today's plans, I kinda forgot about it", he smiled sheepishly.

"Pup sure is smart. He has inherited your intelligence Lily, since that is one thing I can assure did not come from Prongs' genes."

James glared at him. But soon found himself smiling.

"He'll grow up to be a strong man.

"And handsome as his godfather."

Lily could only look upstairs as the words of the prophecy resonated in her ears.

* * *

A/N-there it goes, my first chapter. The next shall be even more interesting. This is my first fic .So please review.


	2. Shadows Underneath

Auror Headquarters:

Walking along the corridor with Rufus Scrimgeour, James felt a sudden apprehension settling inside him. The war was raging on and the pressure on them was mounting. They were the country's finest warriors and yet they were failing in their job to protect the people .On top of it, their enemy was growing in both his power and army.

James looked at the man beside him. The head of the Auror division wore a stoic expression. The man who was both inspiring and terrifying . Bold and powerful, James had never seen Rufus Scrimgeour accept defeat. Neither when Voldemort burnt down his house with his parents and brother inside it nor when the Dark prince and his army had completely destroyed his team of aurors. If anything, it had only made him stronger. He had single handedly organized the Auror force into a powerful military force. He was the perfect general to oppose Voldemort's rising power.

As they entered the hall, James saw a large oakwood table inscribed in various runes at the center. The room in itself was a piece of work with vivid frescoes of battle outlining the ceiling and the walls. Scenes from ancient battles depicted in great detail. At one end of the table sat Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Law enforcement. If anyone thought women had no place in a war as this, they would reconsider after seeing Madam Bones. Tall, with a golden-rimmed monocle, she had proved herself time and again to be capable of holding her post. Her decisions and management of the Law enforcement was what had prevented Voldemort from taking over the ministry so far. Once an Elite Auror and head of the Auror division herself, she was well versed in the ways of warfare. She was also on the advisory committee of the general council of the ICW where her actions had brought her international accolade .Her experience in dealing with dark wizards dated back to the time of Grindelwald where she had fought alongside Albus Dumbledore. Though not as powerful as she used to be in terms of magical prowess, her bold personality and exceptional intelligence made her a formidable witch.

Also sitting on the table were his comrades, his fellow Elite Auror division had been divided into five regiments, each with their own team of specialists in every field be it magical or hand to hand combat, stealth, wards, curse breaking etc. Every Auror regiment was led by an Elite auror, who was handpicked by the head of Auror division and the head of DMLE. The elite aurors were considered the finest of the Aurors, specialists in nearly every field and possessing both power and the ability to lead. Four of them were currently seated at the table. On his right was Damien Macmillan, a man in his 40s who was unmatched with a wand. However, his strategies were what made him an elite auror. With an uncanny ability to predict the enemy's movements, he could draw out plans that would ensure their victory. Beside him was Marcus Wright, a slightly aging man. Although he seemed a bit old, but the people who have seen him fight would gladly agree that he still had the energy of his youth in him. Known to be merciless with dark wizards, his speed and the power behind his spells had made him a formidable enemy of the dark side. Over to his right sat Robert Miles, who was elder to James by 5 years. Robert had initially begun his career as a professional duellist. His dueling skills had earned him the title of British Dueling Champion. After the championship however, he decided to join the Auror unit. His experience in duelling combined with his natural leadership skills quickly raised him through the ranks of aurors. He flashed a smile at James on seeing him. But as James' eyes fell on the last two members seated at the table with a vacant seat next to them, he couldn't help but feel depressed.

They were what were known as the Knights. When the ICW was formed, the first law it passed was that no wizarding nation would be allowed to form a military of its own. This was done to ensure that there would be no wars among wizarding nation, since the result would be catastrophic. However to maintain peace inside the nations, each magical government would be allowed to train and maintain troops for domestic purposes other than the Law enforcement officers. These troops called the Auror unit would not be allowed to fight in foreign grounds and would remain under the complete control of the magical government of their respective nation. After this decision however the ICW was left with no military power of its own. And situations, which demanded the military attention of two or more nations, could not be dealt with successfully. Thus, it created what was known as The Knights.

The Knights were extremely powerful sorcerers, their magical strength unmatched and their knowledge unparalleled. Not only in terms of magical abilities, but also in other forms of combat. It was said that a knight could feel the magic flowing through them. However the main characteristic of the Knights was that they were not ambitious. They had no desires to overthrow the existing system and have people under them. They were modest yet the most powerful amongst all. They had just judgement abilities and the power to carry out their decisions. Each Knight would have to be handpicked by the High masters, the supreme head of the ICW, and trained by an already existing knight. Then they would have to undergo a series of tests that would put not only their power, but also their mettle, morale and personality to test. After being thoroughly evaluated by the high masters and the other knights themselves, they would have to duel the Knight which trained them and only if they proved themselves as equal or superior then their master would they be enshrined with the Sword of Apocalypse-the mark of a knight. Due to this, there were a few knights in the wizarding world. As a result being a Knight was considered the highest honor second only to being a High master. The process of choosing a knight was exceedingly tough, but so were the rewards. The Knights were highly paid by the ICW. No government had any control over them, not even the governments of their own nation. Even the general assembly of the ICW could not dictate their actions. They were answerable only to the High masters. Having a Knight was considered as a great honor in the family.

Yet with great power comes great responsibility. The knights were responsible for enforcing laws of peace throughout the wizarding world. During any international crisis, the Knights had to handle the situation and command the aurors of the nations involved. Even when none of the above situations occurred, the Knights were called in to help the law enforcement and domestic crisis of their homeland. Thus it was considered a great honor and benefit to have a knight from your nation. Magical England had been fortunate in that regard in having three knights from the nation

… Two presently, James sadly corrected himself. What made James apprehensive was that as powerful as Knights were, one of them being killed by Voldemort ,symbolized his greater strength. The deceased knight, Joseph McGonagall, was one of the most powerful sorcerers James had ever known and he could not help but feel weak at his murder at the hands of Voldemort.

Seated on the table were the two remaining Knights –Cassius Vaughn and Nicholas Ashdown. They had their heads down still mourning the loss of their friend. Being a small organization, the Knights were a tightly knit unit and the three Knights of England had been closer than brothers. He could see Cassius glancing at the empty seat beside him every now and then and a distant look in Nicholas' eyes. Both of them, it seemed, had taken a severe blow from their friend's death.

Soon the doors opened once again and in stepped a man with scars all over his face. He walked confidently towards the table nodding his head in acknowledgment to those present. Many knew this man to be a bane for death eaters. Fierce, courageous and powerful, he would not hesitate to kill any death eaters. Known for his ruthless battling techniques was the last Elite Auror-Alastor Moody.

As the entire council sat down, Amelia Bones spoke up," As most of you are aware, the ICW could not give us any assistance in response to our request for aid in defeating Voldemort and his army". While other people would rather cut their right arm than say the name of the dark lord, the people inside the room held no fear for him. The only emotion that they felt for him was hatred, dark and furious hatred.

"The Confederation can do nothing in this case. The laws are set in stone .", the rich baritone voice of Cassius Vaughn came.

"We all knew this was going to happen. No use of discussing it now.", Scrimgeour said in a hard tone.

"That is correct. We do not have time gentlemen. The attack on Cenarus village has shown us that." Amelia continued, "We shall need complete information on the attack. Marcus and Robert, you were present during the attack from the beginning. Inform us about the proceedings of that day."

Marcus straightened himself, "On June 22nd, Robert and myself were at the headquarters. Alastor had gone to oversee the wards being cast at the hogsmeade station for the safety of the students. Damien and his team were at the auror academy. That was when we received an emergency signal from Auror James ", he motioned to James.

James continued from Marcus,"I was at Diagon Alley ,more specifically at Gringotts,when I heard cries of people.I immediately ventured out to find seven full grown male mountain giants and twelve trolls attacking people. I immediately called the headquarters and informed Auror captain Sirius Black to arrive at the site with my team. Then, I began setting up wards and material shields to enclose the giants. It was at this moment that Knight Nicholas showed up. Together, we managed to contain the giants. Soon enough, my entire team arrived and began fighting off the trolls. No sooner than they had arrived, a fresh horde of twenty trolls and four giants appeared on the spot with what we assume was a portkey. We began fighting it and I called for assistance to the headquarters only to hear that the other teams had gone to fight off another attack. However Alastor Moody and his team arrived on the scene and our teams managed to take down the trolls, while Nicholas, Alastor and myself managed to control the giants. As soon as Nicholas chained them, they disappeared via a portkey that we believe to be magically keyed to the giants' magic. We realized this to be a distraction and immediately apparated to the attack site, the village of Cenarus "

Marcus then continued, "We at headquarters received James signal and were preparing to leave for the alley, when we received another signal, that of Joseph McGonagall ", everyone's face turned a shade pale, Marcus recovering himself continued

"The signal gave us information that the village of Cenarus known for housing the ancient tower of Celtic knot was under attack from the death eaters led by the dark prince. We understood the attack on the alley to be a distraction and apparated immediately with our teams to the village .On reaching there, we immediately engaged the enemy. There were too many death eaters along with more than twenty giants and fifty trolls. We were greatly outnumbered. I was engaged in a duel when I heard the dark prince's voice .On sparing a glance at him, I found him dueling Joseph. It was then that Alasor and James' teams arrived and the forces evened out for a while. After a vicious battle that ensued, I saw the inner circle of Voldemort appearing near the tower with Voldemort himself at the center. "At this he gestured to James.

"On seeing him, I quickly cast a spell that scattered the inner circle leaving Voldemort at the center. On seeing me, Voldemort raised his wand and I found myself frozen to the spot. He then sent a killing curse at me. Joseph saved me just in time by placing a stone slab in the path of the curse. He freed me and I looked at Voldemort's direction to find both him and the dark prince staring back at us. Suddenly three giants leapt in front of us .We effectively dealt with them and found Voldemort's wand pointed at the tower of the Celtic knot. Understanding what he was about to do we ran towards him and engaged them in battle. Joseph took on voldemort himself while I dueled the Dark prince. The battle between us was going on when two cloaked creatures collided with us. Getting on our feet, Joseph gestured me to take care of them while he pursued Voldemort and the dark prince .I took on both the hooded attackers, but they proved to be quite elusive. In the end I managed to incapacitate one and was taking on the other when out of the corner of my eye, I managed to catch a glimpse of Joseph dueling both Voldemort and the prince. I continued to fight the last hooded creature and finally when I incapacitated him, he fell to the ground and his body burst in black flames. Turning back to Joseph, I found him on the ground, with Voldemort standing above him. Suddenly a huge blast echoed through the grounds and I looked around to find that the Dark Prince had managed to destroy the tower. Voldemort then looked around the battleground and cast the dark mark. Before I could act, him along with all the other death eaters disappeared."

As James finished the tale, everyone present had gone into a somber mood. Amelia took charge of the situation.

"There shall be a time to mourn his demise but this is not it. He would want us to act."

All present nodded their assent. Scrimgeour spoke up in a professional manner

"Our prime fault lay in the fact that we easily fell victim to the distraction. Voldemort has found a way to distract us and we can do nothing about it. The giants and trolls cannot be ignored and need atleast two regiments of Auror force to control them. He shall use this tactic again for his next attack as well, and we would be left with no choice but to separate our regiments and weaken our forces."

Nicholas Ashdown spoke for the first time, "However we do know the setup of their distraction tactic. And we can use this to our advantage."

On having the undivided attention of the room he continued, "Voldemort shall definitely target a public area for distraction. In Britain we have a few such areas –Diagon Alley, Srebius Alley, Burrette Lane to name some of them. These places can be properly protected."

"What do you suggest we do?", Alastor Moody asked.

"Cassius and myself will design wards around the place that shall trap any creature that Voldemort sends or atleast immobilize them for a certain period of time. That shall provide us ample opportunity to handle the primary attack."

"But to magically ward and set up traps for giants and trolls will require massive amounts of energy given their natural resistance to magic", Damien voiced his concern

"Yes", Nicholas continued," However it is necessary that such a step must be taken. Both of us are more than capable of handling it."

Damien seemed to think for a while and said, "From what we have seen and assumed ,Voldemort used some sort of portkey to transport the giants. We can use the same tactic. After the giants have been immobilized, we can attach portkeys keyed into them to transport them into some sort of holding facility of our own away from any public area. That way ,the diversion tactic would completely fail and if we could ward the holding facility and prevent them from escaping back to Voldemort's lairs, then we could also take them as prisoners and reduce the strength of his army without any damage to our side."

Everyone seemed to appreciate the idea . Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour began discussing the possibilities of a possible holding area. After a short debate , they decided on an abandoned island.

"I shall divide my troops into smaller units and have them constantly patrol the targeted areas until the warding is complete." James said. "Even while you are warding the place, my units shall stand on guard. Voldemort has managed to instill fear in the hearts of the public with the destruction of the Celtic tower and Joseph's death. We cannot afford another attack like that."

"Very well, now that this is done, we shall go on to further issues."

"Although we have suffered quite a few losses but we have managed to capture and imprison many death eaters. Some of them from Voldemort's inner circle ."

"Richard Denizen,Octavius Wingston and Flambert Wingston have been captured during the attack and are being held at Azkaban as we speak.", Damien told everyone.

"Did you get any information from them?", Amelia asked.

"Bloody scoundrels don't open their mouth. And the lower death eaters do not know much, not even the identity of their fellow death eaters. We have even tried veritaserum coupled with imperius, but their will is too strong. All they scream is that their master and prince will rescue them.",Alastor replied.

"Which is very likely. Those three were some of his finest death eaters. And above that we have managed to capture many of his prized followers. I believe Azkaban is his next target."

"I agree. We shall station a permanent Auror unit there."

"Sir, I and my team shall stand guard over Azkaban", Marcus spoke.

After some thought Nicholas spoke up. "I shall remain near Azkaban as well. It is too likely to be a target and Voldemort shall attack the fortress with maximum strength.".

"We need to address the most important issue –that of the dark Prince. From what we have seen, he has been leading most of the attacks .If I am not mistaken Voldemort's heir is at present the greatest threat. Marcus, present us the information we have on him."

Marcus, who had taken up the case of the dark prince spoke with a scottish accent ."From what we have gathered Voldemort, then known as Tom Riddle, was an apprentice under the dark wizard Zahrais when he first met young Kassegra Silas. Kassegra was an orphan, abandoned on the streets and was employed as a servant to an innkeeper who worked for Zahrais. Not much is known after that, but it is said that Tom took Kassegra under his wing. After a few years, Tom Riddle killed Zahrais and went on to explore the world and learn sorcery. Not much is known after that about both Tom or Kassegra although Professor Dumbledore once came across an inn in Tasmania where Tom had spent a few months and the innkeeper had said that there was a young boy with him whose characteristics matched that of Kassegra. It can be assumed that Voldemort apprenticed him and taught him the ways of sorcery. On his return to England ,he amassed an army and began attacking. Even then there was no mention of the boy, although several of our prisoners claim to have seen 'the dark lord's heir' as they put it. However one year from now when the aurors and the inner circle death eaters were engaged in a vicious combat, he had appeared and announced himself to be the dark prince."

Marcus paused at this point since the rest of the history pertaining to his activities for the last two years were known to everyone.

"However, along with Professor Dumbledore, I had been researching on the fact as to why Voldemort chose him as his heir. Voldemort as we know, considers himself fairly superior than others and looks down on everyone including his death eater inner circle. He prides himself in being the heir to the great Slytherin .So why did he choose to have a servant to become his heir when he could have chosen anyone? After a lot of digging around, we found the answer in the pages of history. ", Marcus paused for a breath and continued.

"The Silas family was a rich pure blooded family residing in a remote village of Greece. They, in fact, were hiding from the Greece government to escape the charges on Dalaras Silas. Dalaras Silas was known to be a notorious wizard . He took pleasure in torturing the muggle villagers, but they could do nothing, as they believed the Silas family to have supernatural powers. They were regarded as reincarnations of devil in the superstitious village. One day, Dalaras crossed the limit as he lost his temper on a muggle child and in a fit killed him. The villagers were infuriated and rounded on him .He tried to defend himself, but they snatched his wand and broke it. The villagers beat him to death yet their anger did not diminish. They marched in huge numbers to the Silas manor, and destroyed everything there. Dalaras' wife Abigail tried to escape but could find no way to do so. In the end she frantically created a portkey and sent her daughter Karmen who was around five months old. Where she sent her, we have no idea. But after that, the villagers killed Abigail thinking her to be a devil as well. Their only son, Kassegra, on seeing this, fled as far as his feet could carry and was eventually found by the innkeeper who took him as a servant. The portkey creation spell performed by Abigail however was done in a panicked and emotional state, which resulted in a vast magical oulash. This drew in the Greek law enforcement officers who arrived in the village and managed to record the events from the villager's memories before obliviating them. They tried to find the boy and the girl but they were nowhere to be found .The boy had been taken by the innkeeper to the Slavic states. Now what is really important is that the Silas were not just any pureblooded family. They were one of the direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin. "

The look on the face of every person present conveyed the shock that they had got on hearing this.

"So, Voldemort somehow found out that Kassegra was a descendant of Slytherin and trained him to be his apprentice.", Scrimgeour said recovering from the shock.

"This doesn't change anything.",Damien said.

"Oh yes, it does ",Cassius replied in a voice not higher than a whisper.

As everyone turned to look at Cassius in bewilderment, Nicholas explained.

"Although, we know that blood doesn't matter in terms of magical abilities. Yet in some cases, pureblooded sorcerers have greater power ".He went on to explain, "Many sorcerers gain magical abilities like metamorphmagus through their birth, while others gain and may expand their magical talents through practice and training. However, in an exceedingly powerful sorcerer, his magical prowess is so deeply entangled in his soul and blood, that when he produces an offspring, the ability to harness such powerful magic passes on and is within the grip of the child. The magical core could possibly be greater than a child of any average wizard. That is the reason Slytherin's line produced so many powerful dark wizards and Griffyndor's line produced some exceptional wizards before it was lost. However the fact remains that the said child must himself or herself possess enough strength to unlock the power. Say, a child from Merlin would have the ability to access great magical power, but without training and if he doesn't try hard enough to do so, he would be far more weaker than a muggleborn child who has had ample training in the ways of sorcery. This is the reason that not all Slytherin's descendants prove to be powerful sorcerers. Similar is the case for sorcerers like Godric Griffyndor ,Rowena Ravenclaw ,Circe and Salazar Slytherin. Their descendants would possess the ability to unlock and harness highly powerful magical cores within them. This would take extreme training and strength on the part of a wizard which cannot be inherited or passed on."

"However, with the strength displayed on the battlefields and Voldemort's training, we can assume the dark prince to be an extremely powerful sorcerer. "

"He has become the general and leader of Voldemort's army. We need to take him out if we intend to even out the odds against us". Alastor Moody spoke in a gruff voice.

"However there is nothing we can do about him at the moment.", James told the harsh truth.

"That may be true for the time being. I am currently on the lookout for his base and any information on his operations. We shall soon have some lead." Robert said in a confident voice.

After further discussions entailing the security of Azkaban, Scrimgeour put up his hand to silence everyone.

"Now I know that Joseph's death was a major setback for us. What I want to know is that if Voldemort had planned on his death", Scrimgeour questioned.

Amelia Bones answered his query. " The law enforcement officers have investigated into the matter. With Minerva's statements we have managed to conclude a possible scenario. According to her, Joseph was supposed to visit 's that day for the checkup of his wound received during one of the previous missions. We inquired at the hospital and found out that Joseph had indeed visited the place. However he left the place after taking his reports from Head healer Apostle Drewden who had declared him to be in perfect health. According to Healer Drewden , he seemed to be in a hurry .He apparated from the apparition point in the hospital. However the elves in the McGonnagal house claim that he did not return to the house. What confuses us is that the attack took place half an hour later and from the local population we gathered that Joseph arrived on the battle scene as soon as the battle had begun and immediately signaled the headquarters. What transpired in that half an hour, we have no knowledge of. "

"From the battle, I would say that Voldemort only intended to destroy the tower. Joseph somehow managed to arrive at the spot on time.", Robert put forward his view.

"James ,you were close to him in the battle .What would your opinion be?", Nicholas asked.

James who had been replaying the events of the battle in his mind suddenly realized something and spoke, "Now that I remember clearly, Joseph appeared to be a little weak. I mean I have witnessed him fight on several occasions, and although his spells were fairly powerful that day, yet they were not as strong as his magic usually is. While fighting Voldemort, he seemed to be a bit strained. Then I had just dismissed it as a sign of fatigue of fighting a vicious battle for so long, but he had never shown any signs of tiredness, not even when we fought off the werewolves, giants and inner circle death eaters for a continuous five hours during the battle of Ackerley a few months ago. He usually had exceptional stamina and I am surprised that after only a few hours of battle he seemed exhausted especially when the healer had declared him to be fit."

At this, both Nicholas and Cassius' eyes flashed in rage. "He had been tricked! Voldemort had somehow sucked away his magical energy. ", Cassius roared in anger.

"This is a grave matter. Joseph must have met someone in that half hour who did this to him.", Nicholas added.

"James, Damien. You shall immediately investigate the matter and find out the person responsible. Find out what happened in that half hour and how Joseph became weak. This needs to be addressed immediately. Inform us as soon as you get a lead. Meanwhile the rest of us shall attend to our duties. Voldemort shall not hesitate to attack us when we are weak. Gentlemen. Amelia."

With polite nods, they went on their own way, with James and Damien immediately flooing over to the Mcgonagall manor.

* * *

James and Damien arrived at the waiting hall in manor. Suddenly a house elf appeared.

"Yes sirs,who are you lookin for?"it spoke in a small voice.

"Can you call madam Mcgonagall and tell her that James and Damien are here to see her."

"Right away sir, please be seated." With this the elf vanished.

Within moments the door opened and in walked Minerva Mcgonagall, transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. James was shocked to see her in a state that he could never imagine her to be in. Professor McGonagall , the strict and fair transfiguration teacher who always maintained her composure and radiated an aura of knowledge and power was long gone. Standing before him was an aged woman ,wrinkles furrowed on her forehead, and worry and tiredness pasted on her face. The death of her husband had been hard for her.

On seeing her once favorite student she forced a small smile.

"James, Damien, what brings you here?", she inquired in a voice that was strained .

But James couldn't answer. Seeing Minerva in this state brought down the harsh reality in his mind, the painful truth of the war they were in. Who were they kidding? If Voldemort could defeat even Joseph, then there was no way that they had a chance against him.

Damien replied for him. "Ma'm , as much as it pains me to inform you, we have reasons to believe that your husband ,High Knight Joseph McGonagall's death was preplanned and that he had been set up by Voldemort's forces ."

Minerva's face registered shock .Yet it soon dissolved into that pained expression.

"How can I help you?"

"If you could tell us if Joseph had been interacting with anyone or any of his recent activities that could be linked to this, we might have a clue on who is responsible.", James said ,finally recovering from his shock.

Minerva sighed and looked down. Damien merely looked at James carrying a helpless expression. Both of them had been her students at some point of time and though their professions had brought them closer to her, they had no idea how to deal with the current situation.

"I do remember that he once spoke to me about getting a lead on the location of various dark artefacts possessed by Voldemort from a source. He had been also in touch with an informant for a few months regarding the location of the creatures the death eaters use in was what had been keeping him busy for the last few months.", she said.

James immediately caught on to this. "Have you seen the person? Do you know why Joseph trusted him? "

"Yes, I do believe I once caught him leaving the house .I just flooed into the living room when I saw him leaving via apparition. As for Joseph trusting him, he said it was a close person. That's all I know."

"Can you give us the pensieve image of the man?", Damien asked.

Minerva nodded and asked the house elf to fetch a pensieve. She poured her memory of the encounter with that person into it. James and Damien both dived into the memory.

After a while, both of them reappeared with haunted looks on their faces. James was the first to speak.

"It was initially a doubt Minerva, but now I feel confident that Joseph was tricked .Do not mention this meeting to anyone. If the culprit gets a whiff of this we shall not be able to find him. We will get back to you as soon as we find him."

Minerva could only stare as the two Aurors flooed through the fireplace, thoughts of her late husband swirling in her head.

James and Damien immediately flooed back to Auror headquarters. James immediately rushed to Sirius and both of them went over to the apparition point and vanished with a pop. Damien rushed to find Scrimgeour and inform him of the proceedings. He found him in his office with Moody .

"Joseph was tricked ! And you wont believe who the culprit is.",He spoke in a breathless manner.

* * *

Meanwhile James and Sirius appeared in front of an ancient looking house. The house seemed to be in a broken condition with loose tiles and peeled wallpaper. It looked as if it had been abandoned for years, but James knew better. This was the hideout of an ex-Auror who had been relieved from his services. After his parents died in a muggle accident, he had lost control and had attempted to murder the muggles involved .For this he had been removed from the ranks of aurors. However he still worked and provided valuable information to the Auror forces. The Auror forces hadn't trusted him after that incident but Joseph had vouched for this man and had asked him to remain as an unofficial aid to the law enforcement department.

.James disabled the tripping wards all over the house. Warding had been his specialty in his first year at Auror academy and these wards were amateurishly made and were relatively easy to disable. Sirius opened the door silently as James cast spells for stealth. As they entered, James heard a faint noise coming from upstairs. He motioned to Sirius and they moved towards the stairs. On reaching the first floor, James looked at Sirius and nodded. He pointed his wand at the door and a faint red beam sped towards the door.

"Aegis Viscera", Sirius yelled as soon as the door opened from James' spell.

Sirius' curse moved through the open door and with an orange glow moved towards the two men in the room and trapped them in a full body bind. James and Sirius moved towards the fallen body of the first man. He was the person who they had seen in the penseive and had led them here. Not many knew him, for he was one of the secret informers of the Auror force and was in contact with only one auror. But being the Elite Auror, both James and Damien had recognized him. Dorian Gauss, as was the man's actual name, was once an informer to a single Auror. But after many of his given leads were found to be false, the Auror he was in contact with was told to turn him in. However the Auror, being a childhood friend of the man, refused to comply and instead told the department that he had fled. Only a day ago evidence had surfaced that the man was a death eater. James knew that there was every possibility that Auror who was with him would be one too. And it was the same ex-Auror that lay beside him now. The second man's black hair and almond eyes was all too familiar to them. This was the man who Joseph had saved from facing imprisonment in Azkaban after his attack on the muggles. This was the man who was offered a job in the law enforcement department even after the incident on Joseph's recommendation. This was the man who along with his sister was the subject of Joseph's care and love ever since their childhood. And this was the man who ultimately betrayed Joseph. This was Elan Bailey ,Joseph McGonnagal's godson.

Pure hatred coursed through the veins of the two men as they stared at the helpless body that was the reason for their mentor's death. Although the entire department was against him at one time, James had supported him because of his respect for Joseph. And Joseph on recognizing this had told him of Elan's hideout should anything happen to him and had told him to always be there for Elan. Joseph loved Elan like his own son as he was the child of his best friend and cousin, and that made this betrayal all the more painful.

"Why?" James asked eyes blazing in fury canceling the spell on his face.

"He promised me revenge against the muggles. I was a fool to join him, but by the time I realized this, he had already taken hold of me. He threatened to kill my sister if I didn't kill Joseph.",Elan cried out, eyes wide in fear.

"So, you decided to murder the one person who believed you and proved his belief to be false?", Sirius screamed in rage.

"I didn't kill Joseph.I couldn' knew that I couldn't kill him. He gave me an artefact that would suck the energy of a person and asked me to use it on Joseph .I didn't want to,but he forced me. I had to ..I didn't… ",he trailed off looking fearfully towards the door.

"Who knew of your involvement with the death eaters?",James asked .

"Only Dorian. He was the one who asked me to join the dark lord's power and have my then the prince came, and threatened my sister. But after Joseph's death he was disappointed in me. I knew too much about him. He then killed my will..",then as if realizing something, he frantically began struggling and shaking.

"I should not have told you this. He will know. But I did not want to kill Joseph. He told me will kill me..",he began hyperventilating at this.

James catching on his repeated use of 'he' asked him."Are you talking of the dark Prince?"

"He shall kill me, yes..And then Dorian. I did not kill Joseph. I had to…but I told him..told you..he will realize this." He babbled on in fear.

James and Sirius shared a look. "We can offer you safety if you give us information We can keep you safe..", Sirius was cut off by Elan .

"You know nothing of him. No place is safe. He will find me .his eyes are the shadows. He sees everything. I already know too much. He will kill me. He killed my sister ", at this his tears began flowing freely from his eyes, "tortured and then killed her. I tried to hide her, but he found out and killed her. He is invincible, but I know about him…he is not all powerful". Then as if fighting an internal battle he began struggling with himself. James and Sirius looked on as his face went through various emotions. Finally he looked up with resignation, tears staining his face.

"His armor…"he said in almost a whisper as he looked at James. "He fears you". Then with a moment's hesitation, he dislodged something from his teeth, and swallowed it.

"Run", he said with eyes wide open

Almost immediately after this, his entire body erupted in flames and James and Sirius immediately cast powerful shields to protect themselves and ran from the room .The magical fire enveloped the house and James and Sirius managed to get themselves out just in the nick of time as the fire charred the entire building.

Apparating to a safe distance, the two could only stare as the house burnt with flames licking the sky.

"What could be so horrible that he was willing to suffer such a painful death than face it?" Sirius said in a dazed voice.

James couldn't reply, lost in his thoughts.

* * *

Peter Pettigrew lay in his bed at the 's hospital. The severe case of dragon pox that he was suffering from for the past three weeks, made him unable to even get up. He could only stare at the ceiling. No one had come to visit him for the past week. A small part of his mind consoled him saying that they were too busy fighting the war. James and Sirius must be busy in their Auror duties and Remus in the activities of the order. But Lily, she worked at the hospital, albeit as a researcher but she could come and visit him. Maybe Hayden was taking up too much of her time. First James and then Hayden. Peter was never the subject of her affection. Squashing the thought from his mind, he returned to sleep.


	3. Flight of the Phoenix

The flight of the phoenix

Albus Dumbledore walked with a graceful gait through the long corridors of his beloved castle. Students roaming the halls stopped their actions to wish him. He could see children playing tricks on each other, laughing , teasing ,but most of all he could see their innocence. And that was what was at stake in the present war.

He marched up to the stone gargoyle that bowed and sprang aside to reveal a spiraling set of staircase. On entering his office ,a soothing music greeted him,one that was emanating from the phoenix perched on a golden stand.

"Its close isn't it ?",he gently asked the almost golden bird. The phoenixes were amazing creatures and this one had been bonded to the castle ever since the time of the founders. It usually appeared from time to time in the tenure of various headmasters mostly when the school was in peril. But in his case, the phoenix had appeared in a massive ball of fire on the second day of his term as the headmaster and had not left his side since then. Although it disappeared from time to time, it usually returned within a week. He had found phoenixes fascinating ever since his childhood because of their mysterious ways but even today after spending more than ten years together, he was nowhere close to discovering all the secrets of the enigmatic bird.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where you went this week?",he asked the bird while going through the various letters on his desk. The bird simply gave a haughty look at which he chuckled.

A bright flash from one of his instruments alerted him of the time. He immediately got up and grabbed some floo powder just as Fawkes disappeared in a flash. Shaking his head slightly, he said "Phoenix nest " and stepped into the green flames.

With a burst of fire, he reappeared at the fireplace of his mansion. More of a stronghold, he thought with a smile. He walked towards the door emblazoned with a silver moon and opened it. The door revealed a giant room that could have been easily called a miniature hall. It was long and wide with high ceilings and massive pillars supporting it. The entire room appeared to be bathed in golden light .There was a huge table and all around it, people were seated .People from various parts of the nation with various professions. Some worked in the ministry under various departments while there were others who were aurors, some were teachers, healers ,researchers, shopkeepers or simply housewives. But under this roof, they stood for a common goal that being the defeat of the dark forces. For in this room were gathered the dark lord's strongest opponents-The order of the phoenix.

"About time you came here we thought you and those old friends of yours from the International council were caught up in a debate regarding lemon drops ",Alastor Moody spoke up in his gruff voice.

"Why thank you for the concern Alastor. We had already resolved that issue yesterday."Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling

The entire hall fell silent as they finally noticed Albus smiled at them and proceeded to his chair at an end of the table. His eyes fell on the order members. Each with an unwavering devotion to the light and with equal hatred towards the dark lord. Most of them had lost someone in their family to the Voldemort's forces. All of them prepared to fight the coming darkness. And in their eyes, a strength like none other, the power of the human spirit. It was this that gave an old man like him hope that the darkness shall never conquer. Although the hall was nearly full, yet there were still vacant chairs. Some dead from previous battles, some absent due to other reasons. He looked at the empty spot two seats beside him and his eyes fell in grief. That was where Minerva sat, and yet she was absent today because of her husband's death. He had given her time to mourn Joseph. And he knew all too well how much the death of a loved one could hurt.

He then looked at Lily Potter, a talented sorceress whose beauty matched her wits. She was among the youngest to secure a prominent position at the International council of charms and her research on healing sorcery was well known throughout. The empty spot near her belonged to her husband James who was absent due to his Auror duties. As the members of the order looked at him expectantly, he finally spoke.

"Good evening everyone and thank you for being here. There have been developments since our last meet and it has become a necessity to plan our actions with care as well as haste. The forces of the dark are getting stronger by the minute ...".

Just then the door opened and a large man covered with thick beard came in.

"Sorry ..Am late.", he said ,embarrassed as he took his seat.

"That is alright Hagrid. As I was saying, in our last meeting we discussed the battle of Cenarus village and the circumstances relating to the death of Joseph McGonagall. However due to the efforts of the Aurors, new facts have come to light. Sirius if you may", Dumbledore motioned to Sirius.

Sirius nodded and recounted the episode of how Joseph was betrayed by his own godson. Dumbledore could see the shock forming in the faces of various order members. Joseph was a well respected Knight and adding the fact that he was the husband of Minerva, many order members took it as a personal blow. Even those who already knew the tale like Remus and Lily couldn't help but shudder at the betrayal. Albus himself had taken quite the shock on hearing this. He could even see the usually stoic Alastor Moody in a grimace.

As Sirius finished ,the members of the order bore a grim expression.

"As we can see, Voldemort has strengthened his forces and has infiltrated even the most secure departments. The Auror forces are doing their best to contain his threat ,but his power is growing beyond control. I have information from reliable sources that Voldemort is expanding his influence abroad as well. France and Ireland have been his recent targets. He has been recruiting from these nations and has managed to get inside their governments. Although the extent of this damage is not entirely clear to me,yet I am inclined to believe that he intends to access both the magical and the human resource of these nations for his cause. "

"Then we must alert their governments as soon as possible. They could uproot it right at its inception." ,Fabian Prewitt spoke.

"I have already done that. Although the governments agree to the growing threat of Voldemort, they are unable to discover his ways of operation. He has been very secretive regarding his operations in these nations.", Dumbledore replied.

"I simply can't comprehend this. Don't they realize that we are facing a war here. People are dying here and all these nations can do is just sit and watch.",Gideon Prewett muttered in distaste.

While most people seemed to be in agreement to his sentiment, Dumbledore merely shook his head.

"It is just an insurgency to them Gideon. And we cannot convince them otherwise. Voldemort desires to take control over the people and he is employing fear and oppression to do the same. Although his methods are overly violent and destructive,he could be seen as a leader who wishes to change the government .Atleast to the eye of the outsider.",Dumbledore replied morosely.

"But it is a war for us.",Dedalus Diggle said with his head hung low.

"Yes, and we have lost too many of our dear ones in this to back out now. We will fight Voldemort with or without help.",Frank Longbottom said fiercely.

"Yes,and it is for this reason that I have called all of you today. Based on the battle of Cenarus ,we can say for sure that there is atleast one tribe of giants supporting Voldemort. Along with this ,there are multiple hordes of trolls in his army. To prevent the expansion of his army ,we must ensure that he doesn't recruit any more of them.",Dumbledore said."I had asked Hagrid to investigate the dealing of Voldemort with the giants. Hagrid if you will."

"'E has been in touch wid 'em. Offering 'em gifts and poisoning 'em against us. The Gwamerkon tribe o' the eastern Alps is a'most wid him. They say 'e will give 'em protection from the governments and give 'em freedom."

"It is as I feared .Voldemort is using Britain's policies against Giants and other beings to drive them against us. If he gets all the giants on his side ,the battles shall become a lot more dangerous for us."Dumbledore said in a slow voice.

Sirius immediately spoke up "I suggest we send a team to convince them of our cause. Voldemort is not going to give them any freedom. We all know it. He is just going to use them in the war and later as personal slaves. His ideology for blood purity and supremacy of wizards over other beings is not exactly a secret."

"They wont believe ya. Their prejudice against wizards is too strong." ,Hagrid said

"If not on our side, atleast we can convince them to remain neutral. That would decrease Voldemort's forces by a great amount.",Lily said suddenly.

"I believe she's right. If we can convince them that no harm shall befall them if they chose not to side with anyone, we might have a victory." Dumbledore continued," Dedalus, Fabian, I want you to go with Hagrid and see if you can persuade the giants to see the right way. Will tomorrow be enough time for you to prepare. "

As both of them nodded their assent ,Dumbledore continued.

"It is not just the giants we have to worry about. Tom is using these anti creature laws of Britain to coerce a lot of magical beings to his side. As we know there have been reports of werewolves operating under him. Remus has some interesting news to share on that."

Remus gently stood up. "The werewolves pack in the continent are currently divided in their opinions. What affects us diversely is the fact that since many look up to Fenrir Greyback as their leader, a majority of them side with Voldemort. However there are packs and lone wolves who would prefer to remain neutral in the war. Even the packs following Voldemort have dissent in between them because of some who wish to remain neutral. Then there are those packs who are well aware of Voldemort's ways and have chosen to side with us in this war. "At this he motioned to Albus.

"Due to the efforts of Remus , we have managed to get detailed information on the proceedings in the werewolf community. However ,what deserves attention is that one of the packs has agreed to join our side in the war. And tonight may I have the pleasure of introducing to you ,Derek Grenier,leader or alpha of the werewolf pack Denethir. "

A tall man,well muscled man entered the room. His golden eyes seemed fixed on Dumbledore whereas the eyes of everyone else in the room were on him. He wore a black robe and had his long hair in a ponytail. One could see large scars on his face ,and yet he had the look of an extremely calm and powerful person. He marched up to Dumbledore and greeted him.

"Hello Professor".He spoke in a voice that echoed through the room.

"I haven't been your professor for quite a while Derek. Ladies and gentlemen,Mr. Grenier has agreed to be a part of the order and yes ,myself along with Alastor, have made sure of his allegiance to us."Dumbledore said and smiled.

Even then most of the order could only stare at the man. Although they had been around Lupin ,most of the order knew him from his childhood. And facing another werewolf who was completely unknown to them was a great shock.

Lily Potter got up from her seat and extended her arm, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Grenier. We welcome you to the order of the phoenix. Please have a seat"

"The pleasure is mine,please call me Derek ."He said and sat down at the offered seat in between Lily and Remus. This broke the surprise that many members had on their faces and all of them murmured their welcome to the heavily built man.

"Mr. Grenier ,and his entire pack of werewolves have decided to align with us. He is a man of great power and knowledge and I believe you will treat him like one of our own. Mr. Grenier ,if you could give us your opinions on war."

The man stood up from his seat." The dark lord is heavily intent on bringing all of the werewolf community to the war on his side. For this reason he has been sending envoys to the packs of the country. The prime reason for concern is that his envoy comprises Fenrir Greyback, one of the most feared and the most ferocious werewolves. Many packs have agreed because of the conditions they are subjected to in this nation. They are not given civil liberties and are denied from possessing a job. Various other bigotries have forced them to join the dark lord who promises them a better future. The government has never been of help to the werewolf community, instead it chooses to label us as monsters. These situations drive the packs towards the dark lord."

The entire sat in stunned silence as the implications of the werewolves' speech sunk in.

"However those packs are fools for not realizing the traps that lie ahead. The dark Lord will merely grant them protection in return for their services in his army and on his victory,they shall be eliminated. That is the truth that I know".

And at this the hall was once again engulfed in silence.

"Then why do you join us, knowing that in this war ,you would have to fight the other packs and possibly kill them or be killed if you are on our side. Why not remain neutral ?"Filius Flitwick spoke for the first time.

Derek Grenier hung his head ."Because we cant stand and watch innocents being murdered. It doesn't matter whether wizards consider us their kin or not. We still have brothers ,sisters ,friends among the wizards. We still consider ourselves a part of this community. My pack was formed on this principle and I cannot stand and watch my brothers die.",He said and looked directly at each member of the order, a fire in his eye that matched that of every other person in the room.

The respect for the werewolf went a few notches high for everyone in the room. His reasons ,it seemed,had given others powerful motivation for the war. It was then that he continued;

"The war in the werewolf community has begun as well. Fenrir Greyback is forcing all the packs to join the dark lord. Those remaining silent are being attacked and their leaders overthrown. Remaining neutral is soon becoming a crime. Some of the clans fight his oppression but the resistance is soon growing to be futile. The recent attack on Sahrain pack of northern Wales ,one of the largest pack in the continent ,has proved the might of the forces of Greyback. Even though all of us who opposed him were present during the attack, we lost.",he said with a dim glow in his eyes.

"I can understand that it is hard for you to recollect the incident,but I would have to request you to recount the details of the attack. It might provide us some insight.",Dumbledore asked of him.

Derek silently shook his head as if remembering something painful and began.

FLASHBACK

"_It is not wise to tempt him thus,Jean. You know his power and now with the dark lord's forces,he is becoming unstoppable .",Derek said pacing in agitation._

_They were seated in a dimly lit room which was a part of an old castle. Jean Grenier ,the alpha of the Sahrain pack sat in the plush chair calmly. He merely looked at his brother through the wine glass he held ,smiled and said_

"_Worry doesn't suit you li'l brother. You appear older than me with those wrinkles."_

_Derek huffed in annoyance."Here the lives of our pack is at stake and all you can do is sit here and joke about it!"_

"_There is no use worrying over what is about to come Derek. If I hadn't stopped Greyback from taking over that muggle village ,then half of its population would be dead and the others werewolves serving him."_

"_I know,but we are not here to become heroes. They have the Aurors for that sort of jobs. We should only be worried about our self preservation. With the current situation ,even that has become no less tiring. And on top of it you had to go and spur Greyback. And for what reason, to save some villagers ",Derek couldn't control his anger at the situation._

_Jean put down his glass and went near Derek."Not to save just villagers,but to protect humans from a fate that is worse than death. You have always said that we still are humans. If that is so,then how can you stand and watch innocents die, your humanity shall drive you to fight for them. ",he then stood near the glass window,where the full moon was just about to come up,"Because the day that we lose our humanity,Derek",he turned and faced his brother,"is the day that we truly become beasts."_

_Derek looked at his brother .He had always been amazed at his patience and rational thinking. Even when they were kids and had been bitten by a pack of werewolves during a camping trip ,Jean had always been with him. Even when their parents abandoned them for being werewolves ,Jean had cared for him and brought him as they grew up,Jean's strong personality and leadership drew other wolves towards never considered werewolves to be beasts and when his pack was formed,they had always tried to get governments into accepting efforts had not been completely futile since the magical governments of France ,Germany and many Slavic countries had granted civil liberties to werewolves due to the efforts of the Sahrain pack. _

_However,Derek was not convinced with the pacifistic methods of his brother. He believed in self preservation and independence. He had wanted to see the world and had moved out of the pack. During his trips ,he met many lone werewolves sharing his ideas and had formed a pack himself. On his return ,the two packs had always been close ,although never merging together. Yet,he always saw his brother as his ideal,someone he loved and cared for and above all someone he respected._

_Suddenly,he was broken out of his thoughts when a loud sound resonated through the immediately got up and saw his brother running towards the window facing the entrance to the castle._

"_The wards have been breached .Greyback!",Jean exclaimed and ran out of the room with Derek following reached a tower and looked out towards the gate. What they saw,made their blood run cold._

_Hundreds of werewolves ,already transformed ,in their raw ,feral state stood just beyond the doors of the them were three giants,roaring with rage and about twenty trolls waving their clubs leading them all was a man with the look and appearance of a beast,Fenrir Greyback._

"_The moon is not out yet",Derek exclaimed looking up to find the moon still in the clouds "They must have forced the transformation"_

"_Yes. Greyback still hasn't transformed.",Jean said in a low voice. Then he shouted out to his pack_

"_Aloise,West, get the men to the towers and fire at them. Jonathon,Harold, do not let them breach the outer gates. Everyone ,fortify the defenses."_

"_Arkam, Veron, take the warriors to the towers .",Derek ordered his pack."There are too many of them",he said to his brother,"We need to escape."_

"_They have surrounded the castle,we cant even apparate,they have setup wards preventing us from doing so.",Jean said checking the wards with intricate movements of his wand._

_Suddenly a voice echoed -"Pack of Sahrain, this shall be your last chance. Join the dark lord's might and you shall be spared",Fenrir Greyback's magically amplified voice echoed through the castle._

"_You are a fool to think that we shall join you in your manslaughter. If you think your puny group can harm us, you must be truly delusional",Jean replied back as his pack supported him by raising their voices at his statements._

"_You do not have any idea who you stand up against. The dark lord's power shall crush each and everyone who stand in his way,man or wolf. Wolves of Sahrain,look at the power infront of you,you stand no chance against us. Surrender and accept the mark of the dark Lord."_

"_We stand with our leader,scumbag. We would rather die than kill innocents",Aloise ,the second in command of the sahrain clan responded._

"_Very well then,so be it",Greyback said and let out a feral howl. It echoed through the dark night and brought shivers even to the bravest souls. And then all hell broke loose._

_The giants charged in first. Impressively huge and housing unimaginable strength,they swung their spiked maces at the castle walls._

"_Warriors ,Fire",Arkam of Denethir clan proclaimed and all the werewolves gathered up the tower sent volleys of spells at the after spells hit the giants but to no skin simply seemed to absorb all of it._

"_Target the wolves",Derek said and himself joined the assault. At this the spells changed their route towards the werewolves who had come charging down after the giants._

_A giant hit a wall of the castle and with a loud crash the wall came tearing down._

"_Azalus Optria",Jean said pointing his wand at the giant. A dark red beam erupted from his wand and stuck the giant in its eye. The giant howled in pain and fell backwards with a loud thud,crushing many werewolves. However the damage had been done._

"_Enter the castle ,leave none alive!",Greyback screamed and marched towards the fallen wall. With him ,the trolls and the werewolves in their converted state ran towards the castle._

_Derek was firing curse after curse at the approaching werewolves. He knew that if they entered the castle,their side would fall._

"_Derek look out!",Jean called out but it was too late. Derek looked back to see a towering giant swinging his mace at the very wall he was standing on. His eyes widened as it hit the wall with a devastating crash,that threw him towards the rocks. He collided with the stiff rocks and could feel his bones being crushed from the impact. It was only his werewolf strength that prevented him from losing his life. With pain,he looked up to find his warriors along with the pack of Sahrain ,sending curses and incapacitating many werewolves ._

_Even Greyback saw this. The untransformed werewolves of the Sahrain and Denethir clan were reducing his werewolves strength. The curses that they sent were extremely powerful and then there was Jean Grenier himself, sending huge balls of flame at the trolls._

"_Not for long ",Greyback smiled as he looked up._

_Th full moon had come up from the clouds._

_All the members from the two packs froze as they saw the crystal orb in the sky .They looked on in fear as their wands silently dropped from their hands. Jean Grenier looked to the moon and then to the grinning form of Greyback who had dropped to all fours and had hair covering all his then it began._

_A striking pain shot through his spine as he could feel his bones rearranging themselves. He watched as his hairs seemed to grow endlessly .His legs extended and he was forced to fall on all fours. His palms widened and sharp claws formed themselves on his paws. His mouth elongated and he felt the cold sharpness of his new canines in his jaws. His biceps stretched further ripping apart his shirt to shreds. Then came the feeling of power. Strength and energy coursed through his veins. Agility and extreme reflexes lay stored in his muscles waiting to be tried out. His eyesight improved to accommodate the predator's vision. He could see his pack along with the werewolves from Denethir transforming like him. But then a sudden fear rose in him,and just then ,the fear started transforming into reality in his mind. The wolf's mind was overpowering his own .Soon he would lose consciousness and then the wolf would take control of his body. He would lose all sense of humanity and become the creature he hated the most. _

"_But not here",his human mind screamed in despair,he needed his human intelligence and conscious to fight the ongoing war. He now realized why Greyback had chosen this night to attack them. As wizards,they might be superior and he might have overpowered Greyback,but as wolves,Greyback had the upper hand. He knew the fate of this battle as his consciousness started slipping away. In the distance he could see his younger brother Derek who was just regaining his senses after being knocked out by the blast. Their eyes met and he screamed out "Go Derek,Run away".And with this,the beast inside him emerged completely._

_Derek saw his brother screaming at him and then fall silent as he became a complete werewolf. He could feel the transformations begin inside him as well. He knew the fight would only result in death and their defeat. He saw the giants tearing down the walls of the castle, and trolls attacking the transforming werewolves._

_But what shocked him the most was the scene of werewolves fighting each other in vicious combat,locking their jaws around one another's necks and ripping each other apart. The werewolves from the Denethir and Sahrain clan recognized each other and started attacking the werewolves of Greyback together ,but they were vastly outnumbered .He could see two or three wolves from Greyback's pack surrounding one of his own and mercilessly attacking him. The Denethir wolf tore viciously into the attackers,but they were too strong for him. One of them held his neck with its jaws while the other two ripped apart its stomach. Such massacre was going on everywhere on the castle grounds. He knew that Greyback hadn't come here to scare them, he had come to kill them all. And if he didn't act immediately, the mission would succeed._

_Fighting the ongoing transformations , he yelled with all his might."Denethir ,Sahrain,fall back."_

_He called with his alpha wolf instincts that had come to him since he was halfway through the transformation. Most of the Denethir wolves recognized the call of their alpha and ran towards him,but the wolves of Sahrain didn't so much as budge. Their own alpha was locked in a battle against a large gray wolf with multiple scars running through him as well as a large black wolf. Derek's heart froze as he recognized the wolf that his brother was fighting-it was Greyback himself and the other was his second in command. And it was evident who was winning. Greyback had Jean's head in his jaws and was dragging him mercilessly._

_Fighting the urge to help his brother,he howled once again with his now wolf vocal cords. Calling out to all allied wolves in the battlefield ,he ran. All the wolves from his pack followed him .Just as he crossed the border of the castle,he heard a loud moan that he instantly recognized. Turning back ,he could make out the fallen form of his brother's body and the two wolves standing victoriously over him. Tears threatened to fall from the eyes of the man who was believed to be made out of stone. And yet ,with the last vestiges of humanity left in him,he ran towards the forest._

_Even when he lost consciousness to his inner wolf,the alpha wolf could see that there was no point fighting the massive army that followed them,thus he continued leading them through the forest. Finally ,they lost their pursuers. Yet they continued running till dawn,when the first rays of sun brought out their human selves once again._

**End flashback**

"The next morning when we returned to the castle ,we found it in ruins and the body of our fallen comrades littered in sand. I found my brothers body ,and on it were engraved the words '_Learn from __your brother's mistakes'. _It was then that I decided to fight the dark forces no matter what the cost. My entire pack shall aid you in your fight against the Dark lord."

The entire hall was silent and then Dumbledore said,"Let us observe a minute's silence offering our respects to the brave souls who chose death over slavery."The entire hall stood in silence ,each going over the terrible incident that they had just heard and marveling at the bravery of the Sahrain pack

"The sacrifices of your brothers shall not go in vain. Voldemort will be stopped. And we shall do everything we can to stop him."

All the order members gave their assent to this .Derek sat down,his eyes still downcast.

"This has proved my fears true. Voldemort has more than a few hundreds of werewolves under his command .We must ensure that this does not expand .Derek,I have to ask you to go along with Remus to the other packs and convince them not to join Voldemort. The attack on the Sahrain castle is example of the cruelty that Voldemort shall show all the creatures who do not fall into his strata of purity."

Derek and Remus agreed and Dumbledore motioned to Alastor .

"There seems to be another threat that has joined hands with Voldemort. In the battle of village Cenarus ,James was attacked by two cloaked figures who were incredibly strong and were immune to most curses. After some research into this matter ,the department of mysteries have concluded that they might be vampires."

This shocked everyone in the room. Vampires usually remained in the shadows and rarely came into the spotlight or got into wars. Although some of them held great contempt for the magical race of humans ,but they had never actively hunted or attacked humans publicly. Although instances of vampires joining with dark lords were not unheard of ,they were quite uncommon.

"This could prove to be extremely hazardous for us",Remus said,"Vampires getting involved means Voldemort must be offering them something huge in return for their allegiance. "

"Yes and that is why we must investigate into this matter.",Dumbledore said,"Alastor and William ,both of you must find out about this.I shall try to get information on this .What bothers me is that this expansion of Voldemort's forces and the terror of the Dark Prince might have encouraged him a lot. He could attack the hogwarts express .Therefore I want some of the order members to stand guard over the train."

Many members agreed to do the same including Lily. Sirius even agreed to be present on the train with some aurors.

"What about Hogwarts? Would he attack the castle?",Arabella Figg asked

"I do not think he has the power to attack Hogwarts yet. The ancient wards on the place are strengthened with every passing year and it is not within his reach to breach them ."

"But what about Hogsmeade? He could attack the village while the students are in it."

"Yes ,it would be difficult,but with his current strength,he might be able to do it.",Dumbledore said and pondered over the issue."I could extend the castle wards but they might not encompass the entire village"

"If I may,Albus",Derek spoke up,"My pack and I are willing to guard the place if anything should happen. The enemy wont recognize us and we can blend in easily. However we would need a place to spend the full moons"

"Excellent,that way you can be in constant touch with the order as well. I shall immediately arrange for your accommodations in the village",Dumbledore agreed ."And as for the full moon,we can make arrangements for that",at this his eyes twinkled towards Remus.

* * *

Lily stepped out from the apparition point and walked towards the door. Her tired and solemn face was evidence enough of her exhaustion. The day had been hectic for her. First the meeting with the international council on healing sorcery to discuss her theories of integrating radio-surgery with charms had turned into a debate of all sorts. She could swear that they were just trying to get on her nerves. Then there was this case at 's that she had been called to deal with-a patient had enveloped herself in some sort of green force field while experimenting with the shield charms, and she was extremely uncooperative. And then the order meeting. Nothing drained her life out of her as well as the horrific tales of Voldemort's attacks. Yet, something good had come out of it, now an entire pack of werewolves was allied to the order.

As she walked into the hall,she suddenly felt the air around her charged up with magic. She had possessed the ability to feel magic ever since her childhood. Although it was not that greatly manifested in her as in case of Dumbledore ,Cassius or Nicholas yet she could sense magic happening around her. And presently ,her surroundings were filled with magic. Her heart froze as she thought that her son was alone in the manor and could be the target of this magic. She immediately pulled out her wand and silently peeped in through the door to find the source of magic. What she saw not only gave her relief but also shocked her.

Hayden ,her son, was sitting on the floor his eyes scrunched up in concentration. And all around him, objects floated as if held by an uncontrollable force. Parchments , portraits, chairs revolved around him in a circle .To say Lily was shocked would be an understatement. She knew children of Hayden's age usually had bouts of uncontrollable magic, but this was not one of those. Hayden was perfectly in control, because once in a while the floating objects would align themselves to form the words 'DAD' and 'MOM' , and Hayden would smile with his childish innocence. Lily could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she saw this and yet there was a never diminishing smile on her lips. Her Hayden was growing up so fast .

After watching for some time ,she could see Hayden growing tired ,and immediately made her presence known. Just at that moment it seemed Hayden lost control of the items he was floating ,and They started falling. Lily waved her wand and the items went back to their original places.

"Hey Mum", Hayden said with a tired smile.

"Hayden, didn't I tell you not to do magic when we were not here.",Lily said ,pretending to be angry.

Hayden looked at her guiltily and said,"You did Mum,but then I saw Wocky in the kitchen floating all the utensils around and I wanted to try that too. But I guess I got a li'l carried away",he spoke a little embarrassed.

Lily dropped her angry facade at this and said," It is alright to be enthusiastic. But there must be an adult to supervise you. I have told you how magic can be dangerous , especially when you are not aware of it and hold no knowledge of how it works."

"Then teach me mum.I want to know how it works. Please please please!",he begged .

Lily laughed at his antics. "Alright,i think you are old enough to learn about magic..But no wand waving until you get to Hogwarts."

"Yes!",Hayden exclaimed and danced a little jig in joy."Thank you mum. So when will we be starting?"he inquired with unhidden anticipation.

"This weekend. But before that you have to finish all your home work from school." ,Lily told him.

Hayden was still in a good mood when James returned.

"You won't be that happy when she starts teaching .She gets into this teacher mode and is all about discipline and stuff and goes ordering you around to do things you don't wanna do.",James warned his son on hearing the entire story.

"Oh yeah, who goes around ordering Aurors ? Mr. elite Auror",Lily retorted.

"Aurors are trained to obey their captain and they know I wont abuse the privilege . Little kids on the other hand...",he wasn't allowed to complete his sentence.

"Are you saying that I abuse my privilege as a teacher",Lily's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Forgetting about the incident in our 7th year, Lils, where you ordered us to wash all your clothes in return of your mighty knowledge.",James said with a superior smug.

"That was an accident. And it was you and your friends who were responsible for that. ",Lily spoke embarrassed .

"Keep telling that to yourself."

"It was your merry band who approached me for tutoring you in basic alchemy .And Peter was responsible for spilling that elixir on all of my clothes. So it was only natural that you had to wash it."

"Speaking of Peter,how is he? ", James asked suddenly reminded of his friend.

"I spoke to Westley,he is the healer in charge of Peter. The dragon pox had reached a severe stage. However he is recovering but it would be a few weeks before he can walk out of the hospital.", Lily spoke ."Go to sleep ,Hayden ", she said on seeing her son yawning widely,"We'll see about that lesson tomorrow."

"Alright Mum.G'nite ,g'nite Dad", Hayden said.

Lily gently kissed him,and James ruffled his hair,"Sleep tight ,son"

As Hayden marched up towards his room,the trailing eyes of Lily followed him.

"He is growing up so fast ,James. And yet he is still the same baby that we held in our arms that night. I can't imagine being without him or you for a second. Its just..this war..and so many people being killed... ",Lily's eyes glistened as a lone tear made its way through her cheeks.

James wiped away the tear and gently hugged her."Sshh..its going to be alright. You are thinking too much. Trust me, one day we'll be old and sitting on the porch and troubling ourselves over Hayden's pregnant girlfriend ."

Lily giggled amidst her tears and hugged James tighter.


End file.
